Wednesday, March 26, 2008

On a whim, I submitted my modeling photos to Expecting Models in New York City. www.expectingmodels.com The agency is extremely competitive and doesn't take just anyone, but I thought I'd give it a try. I hadn't heard from them so I'd all but given up hope until last week when they called - they wanted to meet with me. So Ryan and I took a trip to NYC yesterday and they've agree to represent me! I'm really excited about this - now we just have to hope and pray for the right assignment to come along for me.

In the meantime, Ryan and I had a great quick trip to New York. It was Ryan's first time in the city. I was so pumped and pleasantly surprised when we got to Times Square - THE Karl Lagerfeld was in the middle of a photo shoot. That was pretty cool. Here are some shots from our day in NYC.Dining at The Plaza...Mr. Lagerfeld...A Central Park Carriage Ride

Friday, March 21, 2008

I've had several people ask about Ryan's status and how free agency is going. Well, we haven't really heard anything yet. It's been pretty frustrating too. But we're being patient and hanging in there. Ryan's agent isn't surprised - this is what he expected. He is certain something will happen at some point. We just have to wait and see...

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

We spent the past week in San Jose, California visiting family where we got a brief reprieve from the dreariness of Buffalo in wintertime. There is something to be said about mid-to-upper 60-degree weather without a cloud in the sky - that's why people in Cali pay the big bucks! I'd forgotten what it felt like to sit in the sun and just chill! We were quickly put back in our place when we got home to Buffalo last night. It was chilly. There's still some snow on the ground. And it rained all day today. Lovely.

I'll write more about our trip, but I wanted to share some amazing pics of Bean. Yep, Bean. We had a 4D ultrasound while we were in California. On our first visit, we didn't have any luck getting any shots. The wee one had his or her hands crossed over its face the entire time. We even left and went to the mall where I gorged on anything sweet and junky I thought might get the baby moving with no luck. I was REALLY tempted to find out the sex of the baby but ultimately decided against it. Heck, we've held out this long - what's a couple more months?

We were able to go back on Monday and were actually able to get some pics of the little one. People wonder how I've managed to stay so small this pregnancy and now we know why! Bean is pretty much rolled up tight in a ball. At one point, baby had it's foot in it's mouth. I noticed that the baby didn't seem to have any hair on it's head and the tech confirmed it - as of right now, baby is BALD! The technicians still had a rough time getting great shots - the baby was still crossing it's arms in front of it's face. And the tech actually had to take these shots through the placenta because of where it is. But here are a couple of the better shots we were able to get.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

As many of you know, we've been dealing with Will's developmental delays since he was little guy. He was around 18-months-old when he was first evaluated because he wasn't really speaking. He began early intervention services shortly thereafter - speech therapy, occupational therapy - you name it. Here we are several years later and we're finally starting to see and hear some amazing things from Will.

Over the past month or so, Ryan and I have noticed that Will was more present and responsive to his surroundings. He's responded to his name more readily. He follows simple instructions. Then just this past week, we started hearing some random words coming from. Mangos, strawberries, milk, juice, tickle, pacifier - these are just a few words that Will started using on his own and within the proper contexts. He's repeating so many words. It seems like every day, he is blowing us away with something new.

Well, he's started communicating to us when he's got a dirty diaper. He'll come say "did you poop" and sure enough - dirty diaper. And he and I actually had our first conversation today. I was getting Will dressed for church. Our convo went like this:

Will: Go bye bye.Me: Yep.Will: School?Me: No, church.Will: Church.

It was a simple conversation, but our first nonetheless. For a parent who has been waiting years to have a convo with her kid, it was a really special moment for us and hopefully, the start of many more to come!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

I heard on the news that it was supposed to snow in Texas today. I thought that meant a light dusting, but boy was I wrong! Here is a snapshot my neighbor took today - that's our house on the left. It looks like Buffalo, not Frisco!

Unfortunately, that storm is headed our way - we're supposed to get pounded by it this weekend. We're headed to California next week to visit with family - Tuesday can't get here soon enough!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

For years I've been begging Ryan to get checked out for his train-like snoring. When we first started dating in college it was bad, and it's gotten worse over the years. It doesn't matter if he's sleeping on his side, back, etc. - he snores. Unfortunately, he married the world's lightest sleeper, so it was definitely causing some issues for us. I hate to admit that we've spent more nights sleeping apart than together because of it.

Ryan kept a promise he made a couple of weeks ago though and he spent the night at a sleep center on Sunday. Yesterday morning, he gave me the results - he'd stopped breathing more than 25 times in 1 hour. Um, sleep apnea anyone? The technician had to come in and put a breathing machine on Ryan. I heard this and was just floored. I've known Ryan had issues, but I didn't think it was that bad. Of course, sleep apnea can lead to other problems - stroke, heart disease, etc., so I'm glad he got checked out! I think he was even a little surprised by the results.

Ryan will probably be given a C-Pap machine to wear to bed. The technician said that once Ryan had it on the other night, his snoring diminished significantly and he slept better. I'm all for it - I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep!